Case file · Series 4, Episode 3
The Electric Vendetta
An electrocuted body in a crop circle brings UFO folklore, aristocratic families and wartime memories into the same inquiry.
The 60-second case card
Should I watch this one?
Flying-saucer talk supplies the spectacle while the real mystery travels backwards through two families and an old airfield story.
- Best for
- Crop circles · UFO folklore · Military history
- Mood
- Eccentric
- Team
- DCI Tom Barnaby with DS Gavin Troy
- Spoiler guidance
- Read the premise freely; open the marked sections only after watching. This is not a complete content advisory.
Why it matters
Flying-saucer talk supplies the spectacle while the real mystery travels backwards through two families and an old airfield story.
An electrocuted body in a crop circle brings UFO folklore, aristocratic families and wartime memories into the same inquiry.
A naked body is discovered inside a Midsomer Parva crop circle with signs of electrocution, puncture wounds and missing hair. Witnesses report strange lights, and another body arranged in a similar setting makes an extraterrestrial explanation irresistible to local enthusiasts.
Barnaby and Troy look past the UFO claims towards the Aubrey and Chatwyn families, a wartime episode and people whose present identities do not tell the whole story. The electricity and circles are staging devices for a very human vendetta.
Break the seal: reveal the finding
The killings reenact and answer an older betrayal involving wartime relationships; the UFO evidence is an elaborate way of directing attention away from that history.
Open the full research dossierProduction, cast, forensics, deaths and filming evidence
Credits, context and checked facts
The episode file
- TV series
- Series 4
- Episode number
- Episode 3
- Written by
- Terry Hodgkinson
- Directed by
- Peter Smith
- Listed transmission date(s)
- 2 September 2001
- Reported filming period
- August–September 2000
- Detective
- DCI Tom Barnaby
- Partner
- DS Gavin Troy
- Pathologist
- Dr Michael Rycroft · Michael Bertenshaw
- Principal setting
- Midsomer Parva
- Casebook tone
- Eccentric
Check the credits, then follow the source trail for production and filming details. Counts below describe this archive’s records.
The fictional setting and the real filming sites are separate pieces of information. The location desk currently connects it to 0 broader filming areas and 2 exact on-screen site identities.
Credits and archive connections
- Writer ledger2 episodes credited to Terry Hodgkinson
- Director ledger22 episodes directed by Peter Smith
- Release positionCase 16 of 144
- Story characterEccentric · Crop circles · UFO folklore
- Location evidence2 exact screen-use matches
The Crown at Pishill is redressed as Midsomer Parva Village Hall.
Stanton St John village shop supplies the fictional stores and post office seen during the inquiry.
Sources for the production file
Published episode chronology and credits ↗Official ITV programme page ↗Filming-location reference index ↗The chronology is the reference for the credits shown here. A programme homepage does not independently verify a filming date or every production detail. Where multiple transmission dates are listed, territory attribution needs checking. Story, teleplay and adaptation distinctions require the original credit wording; links to external synopses may reveal plot details.
Selected episode credits
Guest cast on file
Selected profiles and published cast-list entries. Database records are linked individually; this is not a full transcription or an independent check against the end credits.
Amanda Mealing
Published cast record ↗Patrick Baladi
Published cast record ↗John Woodvine
Published cast record ↗Ursula Howells
Published cast record ↗Alec McCowen
Published cast record ↗The performers behind this case
Core cast
Actor profiles for the detective, investigating partner and pathologist credited to this episode.
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John Nettles
Tom Barnaby · Detective Chief InspectorAn English actor, author and narrator who was already a household name as Jersey detective Jim Bergerac. After Bergerac he spent five seasons with the Royal Shakespeare Company and later returned to television drama in Poldark.
- Bergerac
- Poldark
- Royal Shakespeare Company
Daniel Casey
Gavin Troy · Detective Sergeant · later InspectorAn English stage and television actor also known for Our Friends in the North, Steel River Blues, EastEnders and Emmerdale. He later returned to the Midsomer world to play Tom Barnaby in the first professional stage adaptation.
- Our Friends in the North
- Steel River Blues
- Midsomer Murders on stage
Michael Bertenshaw
Dr Michael Rycroft · Guest pathologistAn English actor with a long stage career that includes the Royal Shakespeare Company and major regional theatres. His screen credits include The Da Vinci Code, Doctor Who and a broad range of British television work.
- Royal Shakespeare Company
- The Da Vinci Code
- Doctor Who
Portraits are used only where a reusable licence or public-domain release has been verified. Publicity stills and stock photographs are not copied into this independent guide.
Forensic desk
Dr Michael Rycroft
- Credit
- Guest pathologist
- Played by
- Michael Bertenshaw
Rycroft is the one-off examining pathologist credited for this case during an absence by George Bullard.
Meet the Casebook pathologists →Spoiler-controlled deaths desk
Deaths recorded in this case
5 source rows represent 5 people in the current ledger.
Break the seal: reveal the death ledger
- Ronald Stokes
Accidental, natural or other · Electrocution
- Eddie Field (burgler)
Accidental, natural or other · Electrocution
- Steve Ramsay
Murder · Electrocution
- Lloyd Kirby
Murder · Fall
- Dave Rippert
Accidental, natural or other · Vehicle or machinery
Real place → fictional identity
What was filmed where?
The Crown
Used as: The pub is redressed as Midsomer Parva Village Hall.
Village shop
Used as: The shopfront becomes Midsomer Parva Stores & Post Office.
Building identities are cross-checked against the Casebook's published filming-location references. A named match describes the part used on screen, not the whole village and not necessarily an interior.
Wider filming areas
Places connected to this file
No real-place link is published here until it can be tied to a specific, sourced screen use.